by Chris Strauss, USA TODAY Sports

by Chris Strauss, USA TODAY Sports

Football isn't an Olympic sport, but Ray Lewis was partly responsible for the United States winning six medals at last summer's games in London.

At least that's what Michael Phelps believes. The most-decorated Olympian of all-time credits the Baltimore Ravens middle linebacker for motivating him to return to the pool following the 2008 Olympics.

"What he did for me is the best thing in the world," Phelps said. "He helped me come back."

Phelps's journey after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, at which he set a record by winning eight gold medals, is well-told. He was exhausted, at times uninterested, and it was a struggle for his coach, Bob Bowman, to even get him to the pool for training. Phelps's Olympic career began when he was just a teenager, at the 2000 Sydney Games, and going for a fourth appearance, even with the specter of becoming the all-time greatest, was at times tedious.

Phelps said Sunday night that during that time, he struggled personally as well. And he often turned to Lewis, who became a Raven in 1996, when Phelps was 11.

"We've talked about so much the last couple years of my career," Phelps said. "He just helped me get through a lot of hard times, and I wouldn't have been able to do it without him. He's been telling me, 'One more shot. We're gonna have one more shot.' And he did it."

The Baltimore native's Ravens fandom has been documented through his career, with Phelps often watching games on the team's sidelines. Phelps told the paper that the Ravens' win Sunday even made his mother cry.

So in addition to all of his football accolades (which anyone with a television or internet connection has been well reminded of the past month), Lewis is now getting credit for helping America bring home four gold and two silver medals.